Projet Sûksmâgama

Part of ’Towards an History of Saivasiddhanta’ project

Aim of the project and characteristics of Sûksmâgama

The aim of that progject is to provide a critical edition of Sûksmâgama, one of the 28 main texts (âgamas) of the Saivasiddhânta. That works contains a fairly good description of temple rituals, including festivals as well as ceremonies rarely dealt with in agamic literature such as ordeals of various types. It comprises an interesting chapter dealing with employees involved in the temple worship and maintenance, as well as with their role and their share of income. Lastly there its a special emphasis on ceremonies involving the Goddess. On all those subjects one may note that the Sûksmâgama preserves certain ancient features of the Âgamic tradition be it in the domain of deities, mantra-s and rituals.

Sûksmâgama is hitherto unpublished but there is in the French Institute Collection a fairly numerous series of manuscripts or transcripts of manuscripts which contain a full or nearly full text of that canonical work and which may provide the strong basis of the critical critical edition, aim of that programme.

Materials and methods

Sûksmâgama comprises more or less 6.000 verses and it is planned to publish it in 3 volumes to be released between 2008 and 2012 or 2013.

Each volume is to contain critically edited sanskrit text (in nagari script) of approximatively a third of the works together with an introduction and a chapterwise summary, both in English. Introduction is to enhance the main points dealt with in volume as well as problems raised by the making up of critical edition and hints about position of Sûksmâgama amongst âgamic literature, especially from the point of view of history of ideas. As for the summary it is to be a reading help for Indologists unfamiliar with âgamic topics, as well as an instrument meant to allow non-sankritist scholars – working on iconography, religious anthropology and the like – to take advantage of Sûksmâgama teachings.

Sanskrit text is to be keyboarded in order to be printed in nagari script following LateX system (choice between Wickner and Velthuis versions will depend upon IFP computer specialists advice).

Inventory of manuscript sources regarding Sûksmâgama has already been prepared. This has lead to a first evaluation of that corpus : tables of contents has been elaborated for each manuscript and they have been combined in a recapitulative chart. That chart has allowed to select a short list of manuscripts amongst which is to be selected the basic text. The team will thus elaborate a provisionnal critical edition of three chapters taken from various parts of the work : it will allow to determine the choice of the basic text. The work will start (february 2006) for the preparation of the 1st volume (keyboarding of basic text, collation of manuscripts and drafting of critical text).

Team

• Dr. T. Ganesan, Senor Researcher, Head of the Project
• Pandit Sambandhan, Manuscriptologist and expert on Saiva Rituals.

Research Assistants

• G. Arun Kumar, Veda Agama Samskrutha Maha Patashala, Bangalore
• Anandha Ganesha Prasad, Veda Agama Samskrutha Maha Patashala, Bangalore

Trainee

• Jean-Michel Creismeas, University of Paris III, France